Blower wheel assembly

ABSTRACT

By the present invention there is provided a blower wheel housing having generally parallel side walls including an air inlet and a wrapper connecting the side walls to form a hollow chamber. A blower wheel is located in the housing and is axially aligned with the inlet opening. Access to the blower wheel for its removal or servicing is provided by peeling back the wrapper radially away from the blower wheel.

nited States Patent 1 Mullings 1 May 8, 1973 [54] BLOWER WHEEL ASSEMBLY[75] Inventor: Donald M. Mullings, Yardley, Pa.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company, Louisville, Ky.

[22] Filed: Mar. 2, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 231,223

[52] US. Cl ..415/219 [51] Int. Cl. ..F04d 29/42, F04d 29/40 [58] Fieldof Search ..415/219 C, 204, 206

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 927,313 7/1909 Bemiller..415/204 1,609,545 12/1926 Hanf 415/219 C 1,978,459 10/1934 Hegan.415/219 C 2,482,519 9/1949 Schwarz... ..415/219 C 3,485,443 12/1969Earhart ..415/219 C 3,619,080 11/1971 Bullock ..4l5/219 C 3,627,44212/1971 Brandt ..415/219 C Primary Examiner-Henry F. RaduazoAtt0rneyWalter E. Rule et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT By the present invention there is provided a blower wheelhousing having generally parallel side walls including an air inlet anda wrapper connecting the side walls to form a hollow chamber. A blowerwheel is located in the housing and is axially aligned with the inletopening. Access to the blower wheel for its removal or servicing isprovided by peeling back the wrapper radially away from the blowerwheel.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BLOWER WHEEL ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to a blower housing constructioncontaining a blower wheel and drive motor, and is more particularlyconcerned with access to the housing interior for servicing orreplacement of the blower wheel and motor. Generally the design anddimensions of a blower housing including the air inlet and outletopenings play an important part in delivering static pressure andefficiency of the blower wheel. To prevent a decrease in pressure due toleakage and recirculation around the inlet areas it is customary todesign the dimension of the inlet openings to be smaller than thediameter of the blower wheel. The housing is further designed with acut-off portion whose function it is to direct the air stream to theoutlet area so as to prevent recirculation. When properly designed theshape of the cut-off, the distance it projects into the outlet and itsproximity to the blower wheelusually results in outlet dimensions thatare smaller than the diameter of the blower. The above designrequirements generally prevent the removal of the blower wheel from thehousing, and access to it is very difficult without resorting toconstruction that requires separate and removable parts.

These design restrictions have resulted in many attempts to designhousings wherein means are provided in which blower wheels may beremoved for service. One approach is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,627,442Brandt issued Dec. 12, 1971 and assigned to General Electric, assigneeof the present invention wherein the blower housing is disassembled toobtain access to the blower wheel. Some of the other attempts to gainaccess to the blower wheel have been in providing separate parts. Forexample, In U.S. Pat. No. 1,978,459 issued Oct. 30, 1934, removableinlet rings have been used to cover larger openings that would allow theblower wheel to pass through. Another approach as shown in US. Pat. No.3,191,851 issued June 29,1965, has been to use two-piece wrapperswherein a separate piece has been used in the cut-off area adjacent theoutlet of the housing, thus allowing the blower wheel to be removedthrough the outlet area.

While these attempts have provided access to the blower wheel forreplacement and service, they have resulted in undue increase inmanufacturing, material and fabrication cost. It is therefore an objectof this invention to provide an improved blower wheel housing whereinaccess to the blower wheel is provided without removing structural partsfrom the housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A blower housing is provided having generallyparallel side walls and an airinlet opening in at least one of the sidewallsjA one-piece wrapper connects the side walls to form the peripheralwall on the housing. The blower wheel is located in the housing and isaxially aligned with the inlet opening. One of the ends of theperipheral wall is radially spaced from the blower while the other endis located tangentially and spaced apart from the radial end to form theoutlet. In the present embodiment only a portion of the wrapperincluding the tangentially disposed end is permanently secured to theside walls, the remaining portion of the. wrapper including the radiallydisposed end is arranged to rest on support means provided on the innersurface of the side walls with the radially disposed end removablyattached thereto.

To service or remove the blower wheel from the blower housing, theradially disposed end of the wrapper is released from the side walls andthe portion of the wrapper resting on the support means is movedradially from the blower wheel without disturbing the side walls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING One embodiment of the present inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective elevational view of one embodiment of theinvention removed from the mounting plate;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the blower housing with partsbroken away to show the interior of the housing;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the main parts of theblower housing in detail; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2there is illustrated a blower housing assembly 11 employing anembodiment of the present invention. The blower housing 11 comprises apair of spaced apart parallel end walls 12 and 13, each of which isshown with an air inlet 14 and 15 respectively and a one-piece wrapper16. The wrapper 16 is generally scroll shaped with an outer peripheralwall 17 having its axially disposed edges 18 extending to the end wallsto form a hollow housing. The peripheral wall 17 of wrapper l6v extendsfrom a radially spaced end 19 and continues circumferentially to agenerally flat tangentially disposed portion2l arranged parallel to acut-off section 22 projecting radially outwardly from the end 19 andspaced therefrom to form a tangential outlet 23. The blower assembly 11includes a rotatable blower 24 and a motor 26 for driving the blowerwheel 24. The drive motor 26 is provided with an output shaft which isfastened to the center of the blower wheel partition. In the embodimentshown herein the blower 24 is supported by the drive shaft of the motor,with the motor 26 positioned on one of the air inlets in the end wall13. The motor 26 is supported by a series of radially spaced supportingarms 27. Each of the arms 27 includes an ear 28 which is fastened to thearms 27 and the end wall 13 in a manner to allow air space around themotor housing and into the blower wheel.

The blower housing 11 may be used in conjunction with a forced airfurnace (not shown) or similar appliance that requires the movement ofair. FIG. 1 shows one means of mounting the blower housing 11 for use ina suitable appliance. A mounting plate 30 suitably dimensioned andoriented to supply the proper movement of air to an appliance isprovided with an air outlet or opening 31. Two opposite and generallyparallel sides of the opening 33 are provided with the depressed tracksor support flanges 32. A third or rear side is provided with the similarsupport flange 33. To support the blower housing 11 on the mountingplate 30 the top edges of the side walls 12 and 14 are provided withflanges 34 which are slidably supported on tracks 32 (FIG. 2) while thetangentially disposed portion 21 of the peripheral wall 17 has a flange36 which is supported on the front flange 33 when the assembly 11 islocated on plate 30. It will be apparent that the blower housing 11 maybe installed or removed from the mounting plate 30 by simply sliding theflanges 34 of the housing 11 into or out along the track members 32.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the side walls 12 and 13 have substantiallystraight edges or portions 37 and 38 extending downwardly from the endsof the flanges 34 and merge with a generally semi-circular or arcuatebottom edge or portion 39. The peripheral edges of portions 37, 38 and39 of each end wall are bent axially outwardly to form a flange orsupport 41. Starting at the peripheral end 19, a portion of the axiallydisposed ends 18 of the wall 16 are permanently secured as by welding orother suitable means, to the support flange 41 along the straight edgeportion 38 to form the tangential wall 21 leading to the outlet 23, andcontinuing along arcuate portion 39 to the approximate tangent point of39 and 37. The remaining portion of the wrapper 16 is provided with areduced axial dimension so as to fit between the end walls 12 and 13 tocomplete the peripheral wall 17 of the housing 11. To insure thatperipheral wall 17 of the wrapper 16 continues in a scroll-likeconfiguration beyond the arcuate portion 39 and the tangent point of 39and 37, the side walls 12 and 13 are provided with a support means ortabs 42. The tabs 42 are arranged, starting generally in the area of thetangent point of 39 and 37, and continue in a line simulating a scrollshape around the inlet openings 14 and on each of the end walls 12 and13. Each of the support means or tabs 42 is formed by lancing the sidewalls and pushing the stock below the lance axially inwardly to form aplurality of support surfaces. In the final assembly step of the blowerhousing, the portion of the peripheral wall 17 that is not welded to theside walls, as heretofore mentioned, is inserted between the side walls12 and 13 and onto the support tabs as shown in FIG. 4. The portion ofthe peripheral wall 17 resting on the support tabs is removably held inthis position by fastening the end 19 of the peripheral wall 17 to theside walls in the following manner.

Holding means 43 are provided on the axial edge 18 adjacent the end 19of the peripheral wall 17 to receive sheet metal screws 44 that areadapted to be inserted through holes 45 in the side walls 12 and 13. Theholding means 43 consists of groups of parallel slits with the stockbetween the slits being offset alternately in opposite directions toform generally semi-circular tongues 46 which define in effect a recessfor the reception of the screws 44. The screw threads and the offsettingof the tongues 46 are dimensioned so that the screw 44 is forced intothe space between them to effectively hold the wrapper 16 in its scrollshape configuration. In practice, to service the motor or blower it ismerely necessary to remove screws 44 and peel back the peripheral wallportion supported on tabs 42 to the position indicated by dotted linesin FIG. 3.

The portion of the side walls disposed outside of the blower housing maybe provided as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 with openings 47 of variousdimensions and sha es. The openings 47 as illustrated in the present emodlment are un ized for mounting a motor capacitor 48 and quickdisconnect devices 49 which would allow the removal of the blowerhousing from the mounting plate 30 and appliance by unplugging theelectrical connections. Other of the openings 47 may be dimensioned tosupport other components that may be utilized in the operation of theappliance in which the blower housing 11 may be installed.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the presentinvention provides a one piece wrapper 16 having a portion of itsperipheral wall 17 arranged to be removably fastened between the sidewalls 12 and 13 of the housing 11 so as to be movable from a positionwherein it is part of the peripheral wall of the blower housing to aposition away from the blower assembly and out from between the sidewalls 12 and 13 to afford access to the housing interim and the blowerwheel assembly for removal or servicing.

While in accordance with the Patent Statutes, there has been describedwhat, at present, is considered to be the preferred embodiment of thisinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications maybe made thereto without departing from theinvention, and it is intended therefore in the appended claims to coverall such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit andscope of this invention.

1 claim:

1. In a blower housing having generally parallel side walls, an airinlet in at least one of said side walls, a onepiece wrapper connectingsaid side walls to form the peripheral wall of said housing, theperipheral ends of said wrapper being spaced to provide an air outlet, ablower removably mounted in said housing, the improvement comprising:

means permanently securing a portion of the axially disposed edges ofsaid wrapper to said end walls extending inwardly from one of saidperipheral ends;

a plurality of tabs formed on said side walls and projecting into saidhousing for supporting the other portion of the axially disposed edgesof said wrapper;

holding means formed on the axial edges and adjacent the otherperipheral end of said wrapper for removably fastening said wrapper tosaid side walls whereby said other portion of said wrapper is movableradially away from said blower wheel for access to said blower wheel.

2. A blower housing as set forth in claim 1, wherein the side walls havesubstantially straight edge portions merging with an arcuate edgeportion.

3. A blower housing as set forth in claim 2, wherein a portion of thewrapper is permanently secured to one of the straight edge portions andsaid arcuate edge portion.

4. A blower housing as set forth in claim 3, wherein the other portionof the wrapper is dimensioned to fit between said side walls to engagesaid support tabs.

1. In a blower housing having generally parallel side walls, an airinlet in at least one of said side walls, a one-piece wrapper connectingsaid side walls to form the peripheral wall of said housing, theperipheral ends of said wrapper being spaced to provide an air outlet, ablower removably mounted in said housing, the improvement comprising:means permanently securing a portion of the axially disposed edges ofsaid wrapper to said end walls extending inwardly from one of saidperipheral ends; a plurality of tabs formed on said side walls andprojecting into said housing for supporting the other portion of theaxially disposed edges of said wrapper; holding means formed on theaxial edges and adjacent the other peripheral end of said wrapper forremovably fastening said wrapper to said side walls whereby said otherportion of said wrapper is movable radially away from said blower wheelfor access to said blower wheel.
 2. A blower housing as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the side walls have substantially straight edgeportions merging with an arcuate edge portion.
 3. A blower housing asset forth in claim 2, wherein a portion of the wrapper is permanentlysecured to one of the straight edge portions and said arcuate edgeportion.
 4. A blower housing as set forth in claim 3, wherein the otherportion of the wrapper is dimensioned to fit between said side walls toengage said support tabs.